Cruella De Vil

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In all incarnations, once she's foiled, Cruella faces time in prison for her crimes

Quote

"Anita darling!""I live for furs! I worship furs! After all, is there a woman in all this wretched world who doesn't?""YOU IDIOT!""Poison them! Drown them! Bash them on the head!""I don't care how you kill the little beasts, just do it... AND DO IT NOW!!!!""Memo to myself..."

Cruella De Vil is the iconic main antagonist in Disney's 1961 animated feature film One Hundred and One Dalmatians. She is a wealthy, fashion-obsessed heiress who wishes to use the skins of 99 Dalmatians puppies for a fur coat.

Cruella is among the most critically-acclaimed and popular Disney characters of all time, and is held in a similar regard among cinematic villains, once being voted the 39th greatest movie villain of all time, the 82nd most popular film character of all time and the 31st greatest movie female of all time. She is also one of Disney's single most iconic and memorable characters; referred to in television shows such as The Simpsons, her name served as the inspiration for a fetish magazine, as well as a short-lived Northern Irish post-punk band. She remains a recognizable image in popular culture and is a primary member of the Disney Villains franchise.

Contents

Background

Disney's first and most critically acclaimed version of this character appeared in One Hundred and One Dalmatians. This version of the character inherited several visual traits from the original Dodie Smith version: her hair, which was black on one side and white on the other; her black dress; and her enormous mink coat, which swings about her like a cloak. This version of the character, designed by Bill Peet and Marc Davis, was also completely skeletal, and smoked constantly, leaving a trail of green, foul-smelling cigarette smoke wherever she went. Her physical appearance and general manner was described as some sort of hellish beast or demon, a fact referenced in her name and in a song about her.

Cruella, an old school friend of Anita's, claims that she cannot live without furs. She hires Horace and Jasper Badun, two incompetent crooks, to steal Pongo and Perdita's 15 Dalmatian Puppies, and buys eighty-four more through legitimate means. She intends to have all ninety nine puppies skinned and made into clothing. The Colonel, Sergeant Tibbs and Captain are among the animals of the countryside to help Pongo, Perdita and the puppies return home, while Cruella and the Baduns pursue them.

Unlike previous Disney villainesses such as the Evil Queen, Lady Tremaine and Maleficent, Cruella is not a schemer. Instead, she acts purely on impulse and is thus prone to reckless behavior, particularly tearing through the snowy landscape in her car. Unlike future versions of the character, this version of Cruella was seemingly invincible in the eyes of the Dalmatians, who, though they could just about able to keep Jasper and Horace Badun at bay, were unable to face "that devil woman". Their only hope was therefore to flee; Cruella's defeat in the film is brought about not through the deeds of the animals but her own stubborn relentlessness (which, by the end of the film, has seemingly degenerated into a mad fury), and the incompetence of her henchmen.

Voice

Betty Lou Gerson, who had previously provided her voice as the narrator of the opening scenes of Cinderella, was inspired by Tallulah Bankhead when voicing Cruella De Vil. This is interesting as it is said that Dodie Smith originally conceived the character as an evil parody of Bankhead.[1] When performing, Gerson was intimidating even to the other actresses working with her. She was the primary inspiration for Marc Davis when animating Cruella. Davis commented that the vocal performance suggested that "this character was bigger than life, high in energy, and, like a shark, always moving".

Design

The youthful Cruella De Vil concept art.

Though Cruella's basic appearance, in particular her half black, half white hair, were established in Dodie Smith's original novel, the character's design in the film was developed by Bill Peet (who described Cruella as "a fiendish witch of a woman" who "made the story go", Ken Anderson and Marc Davis. In sketches exploring designs for Cruella, Marc Davis experimented with more youthful-looking versions of the character. The juxtaposition of the enormous coat against the rail-thin body was established in these early sketches. Davis exaggerated the size of the coat to match Cruella's larger-than-life personality, and added three big tails to its back to add a "slightly ridiculous" element; the coat's red clothing was intended to allude to the character's somewhat demonic nature (and corresponding name). The disheveled style of Cruella's hair was inspired by hairdos seen in magazines between the 1940s and 1960s. The long green cigarette holder was modeled on one used by Davis himself.

Animation

Marc Davis, the sole animator of Cruella in all her scenes in 101 Dalmatians, was initially unsure that Cruella would suit the film, worrying that the character was too comic. Indeed, his colleagues criticized him as he worked; Frank Thomas felt that the head was too skull-like, while Milt Kahl demanded to know why Davis had to "make her feet so damn big".

In addition to the voice of Betty Lou Gerson, the animation was inspired by Tallulah Bankhead, Bette Davis in All About Eve and Rosalind Russel in Aunt Mame. Davis also worked from live-action footage of character actress Mary Wickes. Wickes' angular physique and sophisticated, smooth movements in this reference footage inspired Davis to incorporate these contrasting aspects in Cruella's animation. However, Davis used the footage sparingly.

Davis wanted Cruella to move "like someone you wouldn't like" and thought of people who do not listen to any voice other than their own, and thus dominate a conversation or situation. He made specific reference in interview to "one woman I knew who was just a monster. She was tall and thin and talked constantly – you never knew what she was saying, but you couldn't get a word in edgewise".

Though Milt Kahl initially disliked Marc Davis' caricatured approach to the design and animation of the character (complaining in particular about the size of Cruella's feet), he was very impressed by the final product and, thinking Davis to be a better draughtsman, appears to have become rather jealous of his colleagues success with the character. When Kahl was given the chance to animate his own flamboyant villainess, Madame Medusa in The Rescuers, he swore to Davis that he would "blow your Cruella off the screen". A fan letter to Kahl from a young Andreas Deja mistakenly referring to him as Cruella's animator received the reply: "Thank you for all your compliments, but I did not animate Cruella De Vil. She was animated by my friend Marc Davis and, unlike Medusa, was based on live-action."

Early Role in The Rescuers

During early production on The Rescuers, Cruella De Vil was considered for the role of the villain; drawings by Ken Anderson depict her in alligator skins, suggesting that she would have visited, or had dealings with, Devil's Bayou. This idea was abandoned, as the studio was not interested in producing sequels at the time, and Madame Medusa was created. Cruella and Medusa share certain characteristics, including fixation on a single goal, a fiery temper and a tendency to drive recklessly.

Live-Action Films

In the live-action remake, Glenn Close portrayed the role of Cruella De Vil and unlike in the animated film, the live-action film gives Cruella the reason why she wanted to make a fur coat out of puppies, because their fur wouldn't be as soft as full grown dogs.

The live-action film was not as critically successful as the animated movie, but Glenn Close's performance, as well as her costumes, by Anthony Powell and Rosemary Burrows, received appreciative attention. Claws were applied to gloves, and necklaces were made from teeth, to add to the idea that Cruella enjoyed wearing parts of dead animals. Nails were also projected from the heels to make them especially vicious in appearance. Some of her clothes were made out of leather or PVC, and Cruella always wore lots of makeup. Glenn Close commented on how demanding the slapstick physicality of the role was while wearing nail-heeled boots and corsets. While filming the scene where Cruella falls into the molasses, Glenn Close insisted on doing that scene herself for genuine acting, as opposed to delegating it to a stunt double.

Animated Appearances

Visiting Anita

Cruella in the original 101 Dalmatians.

A while after Roger and Anita have married and settled down together, Perdita, Anita's Dalmatian, hears the screech of Cruella's car outside, and runs to the kitchen to hide from "that devil woman." Looking out of the window, Roger sees that Cruella, whom he refers to as Anita's old schoolmate, is coming towards the house. As she approaches the front door, Roger sings a less-than-flattering song about her. Anita attempts to stop Roger for fear that Cruella might hear.

Roger goes upstairs and uses various musical instruments to play the tune to the song when Cruella bursts in, demanding to see Pongo and Perdita's puppies, and leaving a trail of smoke from her cigarette. Anita informs her that the Dalmatian puppies will not arrive for a few weeks. Cruella then departs as quickly and loudly as she came, saying that she will return in three weeks. A previously excited Perdita grows anxious at Cruella's interest in the puppies.

Dognapping the Puppies

Cruella swears vengeance on the Radcliffes.

Cruella returns to the Radcliffe's house just after the fifteen puppies are born. At first she is furious that the "mongrels" have no spots, but, when Anita tells her that the spots will appear in a few weeks, Cruella offers to buy all fifteen immediately. Roger (after having his songwriting career made fun of by Cruella, and after being splattererd with ink from a pen that cruella was using to write the check for the puppies) says they aren't selling and Cruella storms out, vowing revenge.

Later, Jasper and Horace succeed in stealing the puppies while the Radcliffe's are out. At home, Cruella laughs to herself as she reads of the theft in the newspaper; she is the orchestrator of the crime. The Baduns phone her to demand payment, but are told that they will receive nothing until the job is done. Slamming the phone down, Cruella then decides to phone Anita, and feigns surprise at the theft (though Roger is convinced that she is involved).

The Chase

The crazed and determined Cruella chasing after the puppies in her car.

Jasper and Horace succeed in stealing another eighty-four puppies, and take them to the Old De Vil Place. Cruella arrives one evening, demanding that 'the job' be done immediately, and leaves furiously, threatening to call the police otherwise. Sergeant Tibbs succeeds in helping all ninety nine dalmatians escape the old mansion. Cruella, Jasper and Horace search for the puppies in a small village, and Cruella is initially fooled when the dogs cover themselves in soot to disguise as labradors and board a lorry heading for London (Horace although was convinced about the Puppies disguising themselves with soot, but Jasper said sarcastically that they were and then angrily yelled "You Idiot!!").

When she sees snowflakes removing the soot, however, she follows in her car, and Jasper and Horace follow in their truck. Pursuing the puppies, Cruella almost succeeds in ramming the lorry, driver, dalmatians and all, off a cliff, but the top of her car is ripped off during the chase, which comes to an end when Jasper and Horace, trying to hit the lorry, succeed in ramming their truck into her car, sending Cruella, Horace, and Jasper over the cliff; all three survive, but Cruella is furious and subjects Jasper and Horace to a tongue-lashing at which point Jasper finally plucks up the courage to tell her to shut up.

Walt Disney's early vision for The Rescuers revolved around the kidnapping of a polar bear from a city zoo; writers considered reusing Cruella as the main antagonist (presumably driven by her desire for the bear's fur). The idea was dismissed when the source for the storyline changed, and Disney did not want to make a sequel out of an otherwise unrelated film. Interestingly, the idea that Cruella De Vil liked the fur, but also the diamonds, was in the original Doddie Smith book (while not used in the Disney version ofOne Hundred and One Dalmatians), and the main villain of the final version of The Rescuers loves diamonds.

The incarnation of Cruella that appears in 101 Dalmatians: The Animated Series (which relocated the events of the films in America), voiced by April Winchell, shares traits with both the 1961 version and the live-action version. In design, she resembles the Cruella of the original animated version. However, the series' slightly different design style, as well as lower budgets, resulted in a simpler design; most notably, the black dress and fur coat were dropped in favour of a simple black-and-white dress.

This version of the character also lost previous incarnations' excessive smoking habits (in the first episode, she lampshades this by stating "I picked the wrong week to quit smoking") and, notably, obsession with fur (these factors may have been removed due to censors not wanting a smoking, animal murderer on a Saturday morning cartoon); instead, her goal throughout the series was to own the land currently owned by Roger and Anita Dearly. Like the live-action version, this Cruella was the head of the House of De Vil, and was often defeated in comedic fashion. Her minions included Jasper and Horace, as well as her pet ferret, Scorch.

In the Christmas Episode, It is revealed that she always wanted a dalmatian puppy for Christmas but she never got one and her parents were always away for the holidays, while she was left in the care of a different foreign babysitter, which reveals that she was always evil, even as a baby.

Cruella returns in the sequel here voiced by Susan Blakeslee, only she's not the main villain this time around, Lil' Lightning is. In this film, Cruella is first seen trying to find a substitute for her fur obsession. She meets a man named Lars and quickly admires him for his artistic vision. Lars' paintings of spots proves a fine replacement for Cruella's prior obsession. However, Cruella eventually bores of Lars' work but to help Lars, she bails out Jasper and Horace to kidnap the dalmatian puppies again.

The duo kidnap the puppies and takes them to Cruella's home. Lars believes Cruella wants him to paint puppies but after he finds out he would have to kill the puppies he refuses and calls Cruella a sicko. In anger, Cruella ties Lars onto a large target and throws several knives at him as torture. She returns to her psychotic state and wishes to have a new fur coat once again. Jasper and Horace are given the job to murder the puppies again but the dogs escape. A chase through the city follows which leads to Cruella's defeat by the dalmatian puppy Patch. Cruella is arrested and sent to the Asylum.

In the series House of Mouse, Cruella appears as a recurring character. As a running gag, Cruella usually measures and examines other dogs from other Disney films, and also threatens Pluto in the first episode:

Cruella: Forget the bag. (gestures to Pluto) I'll take the doggy! (laughs fiendishly)

Also in the first episode, when Pete attempted to escape Mickey and friends after his villainy was exposed, he disguised himself as a dalmatian but ran away in fear after Cruella began to measure him with a wicked grin. In the episode "House of Crime", Cruella was accused of kidnapping the puppies. She replies by shouting "You make one movie and you're labeled for life!"

In "Max's Embarrassing Date", she went on a date with the Beast and asked if he came in a medium, which the Beast became annoyed of. After the Beast gets soaked with soup he was eating, Cruella is unhappy as she would have to get him dry-cleaned. Cruella also appears as one of the main villains in the film Mickey's House of Villains where she, Jafar, Hades, Ursula and Captain Hook take over the House of Mouse. Out of the main villains, Cruella was the first to note her interest in taking over the club for her own purposes.

In "Pluto Saves the Day", when Pluto and his all dog band performed, Cruella eagerly mumbled to herself "Ooh, where's my tailor when I need him!?".

Live-action Appearances

In the live-action version of 101 Dalmatians, Cruella was reinvented as the head of a London-based fashion house, House of De Vil. Rather than an old schoolmate, Anita Dearly is one of her employees and, it is implied, her best designer. It is shown that next to making furs through selled animals she also has stolen some of the skins that she sells. For example early in the movie Roger is seen reading a paper reporting a stolen rare Siberian tiger from London Zoo; it is later revealed that Cruella masterminded the theft and had a close friend; a taxidermist named Skinner make the tiger into a fur rug for her house.

When Anita presents Cruella with a design of a dalmatian furred robe, Cruella immediately falls in love and turns her business to a new goal of making dalmatian fur coats. When she learns that Anita has married a local lonely young man named Roger Dearly, she decides to pay a visit to meet Roger. Roger initially is glad to meet her and has full respect for Cruella but it quickly drains into disrespect and anger when Cruella mocks Anita for marriage to a video game designer (Roger). Cruella only respects Roger and Anita when she learns that their dalmatians Pongo and Perdy will be bringing puppies into the world.

It is quickly discovered that Cruella has only shown happiness for the family's new puppies under the mistaken belief that she will be allowed to purchase them. Cruella learns from her spies Horace and Jasper one soggy rainy night that the 15 puppies have been born and pays a visit. When seeing the puppies, Cruella calls them rats when seeing no spots until Anita says that they will be spotted in 3 weeks. Cruella immediately asks them to put them in a bag or on reserve for her offering them a paycheck for the puppies. However Roger immediately angrily says that the puppies are not for sale; Anita gains the courage to stand up to Cruella also. A furious Cruella fires Anita and leaves vowing vengeance and calling her and Roger "fools and idiots".

Cruella laughing maniacally, now that she has all the puppies she needs to make her Dalmatian coat.

A few months later, Cruella has Horace and Jasper rob the puppies and bring them to her deserted home in the outskirts of London. It is revealed that next to the 15 puppies Cruella also stole 84 more puppies. The vile men succeed but after a few days Cruella realizes that the theft has made the headlines and has been the subject of everything; thus the police have ransacked every home of every suspect and Cruella realizes that the police are on the verge of targeting her next. Cruella orders Horace, Jasper and Skinner to make the coats but the entire police search and the puppies managing to escape due to help from other dogs around England; all eventually manage to overwhelm the henchmen into surrendering.

Cruella looking for the puppies.

Cruella decides to take matters into her own hands and follows the puppies' tracks but is pummelled by barn animals where the tracks end up. Cruella is unaware during this chase that the Dearly's have finally figured out she did it and that police have investigated her home connecting her to other crimes including the missing tiger. The police arrive at the barn and see Cruella in mud having kicked out by Punch. They arrest her and her henchmen and return the puppies to the Dearly's while Cruella is found guilty of crimes such as the tiger vanishment, the 15 puppies theft, theft, conspiring to commit crimes, animal abuse, crimes against humanity, calling the Dearlys fools and idiots and assault sentencing her to life in prison which is briefly reduced.

Cruella has seemingly been cured of her obsession of furs and now loves puppies and has decided to get rid of her fashion house because the clothes are made out of fur. While visiting Chloe Simon, one of the puppies nearly falls out the window and while Chloe and the other puppies try to rescue her, Cruella hears the chimes of Big Ben and she reverts back to her original obsession with spots, seeing black spots everywhere and she now wants 102 Dalmatian puppies for her designs. She enlists the help of another fashion designer named Jean-Pierre Le Pelt and an unwilling butler named Alonzo. She frames the owner of the animal shelter Kevin Shepherd for kidnapping the puppies and he is arrested. He escapes from jail and tries to help Chloe rescue the puppies, but they are trapped by Cruella. The puppies escape and Cruella tries to capture them, and at the same time Alonzo redeems himself by defeating Jean-Pierre Le Pelt and freeing Chloe and Kevin while Cruella is defeated by getting baked in a cake. The police come and arrest her and Le Pelt.

Cruella, played by Victoria Smurfit, debuted in the episode "Heroes and Villains" of the ABC series Once Upon a Time, and will serve as a main antagonist for the second half of the fourth season.

Cruella De Vil in Once Upon a Time.

Receiving an invitation from the Dark One, Rumplestiltskin, to the Forbidden Fortress, Cruella De Vil arrives with her two dog companions, using her magical ability of persuasion on them, to which they react with hostility towards two strangers, Maleficent and Ursula. Rumplestiltskin desires help from all three women to retrieve a curse and give them, as well as himself, the happy endings they otherwise would not get as villains. After agreeing, they travel with him to the Bald Mountain, where each women uses their powers to defeat an obstacle. For Cruella, she magically persuades a horde of venomous bugs to part aside for them. Once Ursula grabs the crystal ball containing the curse, it triggers the Chernabog into attacking. Admitting that he used them, Rumplestiltskin advises the women about the Chernabog, which detects the heart with the greatest evil and devours it. He then leaves, with the crystal ball, while the trio face the beast. The Chernabog attacks Maleficent, who distracts it as Cruella and Ursula climb up a crack in the ceiling. Just before the Chernabog can kill Maleficent, Ursula hoists her to safety.

Some time in the past before the Dark Curse, Cruella allied herself with Maleficent and Ursula to steal a powerful gauntlet from the evil sorcerer, Rumplestiltskin. This gauntlet is capable of revealing one's weakness, which the villains plot to utilize in order to defeat their enemies and gain their own happy endings.

Cruella uses a Dalmatian to kidnap Rumple's maid, Belle, and holds her for ransom in exchange for the gauntlet. Once the item is in their possessions, Cruella and the other reveal their scheme, though Rumple manages to steal it back, claiming the exchange was performed through ransom, and not a deal, which he never breaks. Cruella scoffs and claims he'll meet a defeat, as villains never win, yet the sorcerer retorts by claiming he always does.

Cruella in the modern world.

Years later, in the modern world, it is shown that Rumple (having met defeat of his own) plans to ally himself with Cruella, Maleficent and Ursula to find the author of the Once Upon a Time book to forcibly retrieve their happy endings. Cruella De Vil was shown living on Long Island under the alias of Cruella Feinberg, who just had her lavish lifestyle and items repossessed by the FBI. At Mr. Gold and Ursula's arrival, she expresses little interest in joining them and instead shows off her car. Mr. Gold and Ursula find her and offer her the opportunity to join them into returning to Storybrooke. Cruella agrees to the terms and takes them to Storybrooke in her car. Upon using Mr. Gold's cellphone, Ursula and Cruella make a deal with Regina to let them into Storybrooke in exchange for info on how to defeat the Chernabog. After the Chernabog disappeared upon being thrown over the town line, Ursula and Cruella were invited into Storybrooke. Later that night, Cruella and Ursula get Mr. Gold back into Storybrooke. That night, Cruella and Ursula meet with David and Mary Margaret, who swear the twosome into never revealing their pasts with each other in the Enchanted Forest. Ominously, Mary Margaret promises to tear out their Hearts herself if they don't comply.

Cruella and Ursula secretly work with Mr. Gold to resurrect Maleficent. The women steal an ornament of Maleficent's from the pawnshop, which David and Mary Margaret believe will be used to resurrect the dead sorceress. Instead, this is only a ruse to bait the couple into venturing into the cave below the library where Maleficent's ashes reside, and after David and Mary Margaret are knocked out by Ursula, Cruella sacrifices some of their blood to Maleficent's ashes to complete the spell that proceeds to morphs her ashes into her undead form, then her dragon form before restoring her to life.

Printed material

Cruella appears in the fourth and fifth books in the saga. In Power Play, she and the Evil Queen take over the leadership of the Overtakers when Maleficent and Chernabog are captured. At the end of the book, she mentions she's an important part of the Overtakers, because she knows the ways of the modern world unlike the Queen or Maleficent. In Shell Game, she and the Queen appear again aboard the Disney Dream while following the hyenas who caught the Keepers' scent; she commands the hyenas, giving them names like Happy or Howly. She has a figurative "magic" the Overtakers need to use on Chernabog, but what that is remains unknown. She has also asked "Queeny" to teach her some spells.

Cruella make appearances in the Disney Parks around the world. Cruella usually appears as a meet and greet character, but she has not appeared in Walt Disney World to date. She is considerably more common in Disneyland Paris, due to her being a fashion designer. Cruella's most notable park appearance in arguably Disney Stars and Motorcars Parade. However, she makes some appearances at Mickey's Halloween Party to make meet-and-greets with guests.

On some of the Disney Cruise Line ship, Cruella is featured in several shows including, "The Golden Mickeys" and "Villains Tonight".

Cruella is one of the villain suspects in Midship Detective Agency on the Disney Fantasy cruise ship. However, after finding some evidence, it is reveled that Cruella is not responsible for the crime in question, being absent from the ship at the time the crime was committed. Ironically, one of the crimes she was innocent of was the kidnapping of Pongo and Perdie's 99 puppies. So far, Cruella is always innocent.

In Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, Cruella is a villain enemy featured in Main Street, U.S.A. She makes a deal with Hades (under the guise of Boss Teal), to have all the dalmatians in her possessions in exchange for the legendary crystal of the Magic Kingdom. When word spreads that Pongo has contacted the local dogs to guard the crystal, Cruella sends Jasper and Horace to capture the dogs. They capture a few but before they a given a chance to eliminate them, the park guests arrives and defeats the hoodlums. Meanwhile, Hades created a fireworks show to distract the citizens whilst Cruella rampages through their homes to find the crystal. Eventually, she breaks into Merlin's secret vault. However, Perdita replaced the crystal with a chew toy, and Cruella breaks down in tears at the fact that she's been outwitted by dogs. After the guests blast her with magic, he coat falls apart, causing her to throw a tantrum and falling beneath the floor.

Cruella appears as one of the villains in the Florida version of Fantasmic!. In the show, Cruella is called forth by the Evil Queen when she plans to destroy Mickey Mouse once and for all with the help of her fellow Disney Villains. In the end, Cruella is killed by Mickey along with the other villains.

Deviations from source material

In Dodie Smith's original book, Cruella De Vil was married to a furrier, but kept her maiden name. She could be considered more sinister and less powerful than the Disney version of the character, which retains the half black, half white hair, the huge, cape-like mink coat and the hell-like home (suggested in the film by the look of her bedroom).

Critical Response

The 1961 animated version of Cruella De Vil is generally considered Disney's best interpretation of the character, and one of the greatest movie villains of all time, declared by many critics as the best villain since the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. She was nominated for a place in 'AFI's 50 Greatest Villains list' (along with the Evil Queen, Stromboli, Man, Lady Tremaine, Maleficent and Ursula; the Disney Villains to make the final list were the Queen (10), Man (20), and Cruella De Vil (39)) and was ranked sixth in fan site Ultimate Disney's countdown of the most popular Disney Villains. In an official poll for favorite animated Disney Villains she placed first. Cruella was also ranked as the third greatest Disney Villain in the tongue-in-cheek Disney Villains: The Top Secret Files by Jeff Kurtti. She was voted the 82nd most popular movie character of all time by the readers of film magazine Total Film; she was the only animated Disney character to appear on the list.

Polls held close to the publication of The Disney Villain rank Cruella as the most popular Disney Villain. Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston (authors of the book) find the character "a sparkling combination of unnerving evil intent and ridiculous farce, played against the innocence and vulnerability of 99 puppies... Cruella was unique, outrageous, and highly entertaining".

Leonard Maltin considers the character to exemplify the film's "stylistic exaggeration of reality... her design is a caricature... even her car is an exaggeration". Times critic Howard Thompson felt that she "makes the Snow White witch seem like Pollyanna... Imagine a sadistic Aunt Mame, drawn by Charles Addams and with a Talulah Bankhead bass." Leonard Maltin, "The Disney Films" (Disney Editions, New York, 2000) Jerry Beck's Animated Movie Guide declares that "Disney evildoers of the past were merely dastardly, but Cruella was actually psychotic, a bony, volatile bundle off thinly worn nerves and hysterical egomania... Cruella De Vil is arguably the most memorable character in any Disney film".

A live-action incarnation was portrayed by Glenn Close for a remake, One Hundred and One Dalmatians; this version was not only an heiress but also a fashion designer, and was defeated in slapstick fashion similar to the defeats of the villains of the Home Alone movies (which were produced by the same producer).

Quotes

Gallery

Trivia

Cruella's defeat in One Hundred and One Dalmatians is unique for most other villains. Cruella was not defeated by the protagonists but by a minor character: the truck driver. Also the reason for her failure was the incompetence of Jasper and Horace. The Dalmatians themselves contributed very little to her downfall.

"Cruella De Vil" is a play on the words "cruel" and "devil".

Since Cruella is generally the Big Bad of the franchise, she was assumed to be the main villain in Patch's London Adventure; however, the true villain turns out to be Lil' Lightning, Thunderbolt's jealous and traitorous sidekick.

In the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap, one of the twins calls Meredith Blake "Cruella".

Cruella was listed #16 in Empire Magazine's The 50 Best Animated Movie Characters. Stating as her Stroke of genius her unique approach to keeping her two henchmen, Jasper and Horace, on her side, constantly slapping them, threatening them and berating them for (admittedly catastrophic) failures.

Cruella is often seen in Forbes Annual Fictional 15 list of wealthiest fictional characters.

It was revealed in "A Christmas Cruella" that she did want a puppy before becoming her villainous self.

Cruella could have been inspiration for Yzma, as they both have a similar body shape and personality (aside from Yzma's humorous moments).

In the animated movies and live action movies, Cruella is commonly seen smoking.

Cruella was briefly mentioned by Zelda, the villainess of The Swan Princess III during her villain song along with the Wicked Witch of the West.

Both intimidate their henchmen (Cruella, Jasper and Horace Badun: Ratigan, Fidget) who they have are responsible for kidnapping the tritagonist (Dalmation Puppies in Cruella's case: Olivia Flaversham), triggering the stories of their films.

Both have enemies who at one point made deep scowls towards them (Cruella; Pongo, Ratigan; Basil).

Both have developed red eyes in the climaxes, while revealing their insanity and chasing the protagonists.

Both are stood up by a character (Cruella by Roger Radcliffe: Ratigan by Basil) who stands up straight who has his fist clenched.

Both smash the doors real hard.

In the TV series Cruella quits smoking.

A running gag through out the TV series is Cruella calling Roger by a different name.

Cruella made the Forbes Fictional 15 list as #13 in 2002. She is one of five characters in the Disney company to make the Forbes Fictional 15 list, with the others being Flintheart Glomgold, Oliver Warbucks, Tony Stark (even though Stark was not owned by Disney at the time), and Scrooge McDuck.

Cruella was originally chosen to be the villainess for The Rescuers too, but then it was decided to create a new villainess, Mademe Medusa, instead. However, both Cruella and Medusa have similar personalities and traits.

Both serve as the main antagonist.

Both wear a sleeveless dress.

Both are thin.

Both drive recklessly, though seem to believe they are not.

Both are fine with hurting the innocent (Cruella: Dalmation Puppies; Medusa: Penny) in order to achieve their ends.

Both have old phones, though this may be due to the time period.

Both have stupid henchmen (Horace and Jasper Badun for Cruella; Mr. Snoops for Medusa).

Both got stranded as a defeat and got back at by their henchmen (Jasper and Horace told Cruella to shut up and Mr. Snoops laughed at Medusa). Medusa was stranded on the boat chimeny unable to escape Brutus and Nero, and Cruella was stranded in the English countryside due to her damaged car. But Cruella returned for the sequel in which she got arrested as her defeat whereas Medusa didn't return.

Both have bad tempers.

Both were seen slamming their telephones, due to frustrating talks with their henchmen.

Both sobbed about losing what they wanted when defeated (Cruella, Dalmation Puppies; Medusa, Devil's Eye).

Both have red cars.

Both chased the deuteragonist (Cruella: Perdita, Medusa: Penny).

Both of their henchmen turn on them for betrayal. (Cruella: Horace & Jasper, Medusa: Brutus & Nero).

In the original book by Dodie Smith, Cruella loved the fur and the diamonds. It was not used for the 1961 animated film, but it's however a new point in common.

In both live-action films, when Cruella is foiled, she is seen wearing a red and black fur coat.

Cruella De Vil is the one of the Disney villains to be sarcastic. The second Bill Sykes, the third Ratigan, the fourth Mcleach, the fifth Scar, and the sixth Hades.

In Once Upon a Time, Cruella displays the magical ability of persuasion, though in the original film, she did not have magical abilities. The power on the show is displayed as green smoke from her mouth, which in the film, Cruella constantly exhaled due to her smoking cigarettes.